A Blacksmith's Trip To Onibus
---- Rowan's weapons were laid out upon the cloth in front of him. He had no specially forged weapons this month, but they were all of high caliber. The man sat crosslegged drinking a cup of coffee. He unscrewed a small container and dumped a teaspoon of raw honey into his coffee. After stirring it around, he took a sip. It was boring sitting in the marketplace, but he needed money. He just hoped that neither Nolan or Nova came by, he wasn't in the mood for small talk. Just then a rather short women approached his stand, and began picking up some of the weapons to inspect them. Her eyes seemed to see something far deeper inside the weapon, for the way she maneuvered it through the air made it look like she was finding the soul within the blade. She sets down one of the swords and turns to face Rowan. "Excuse me sir, but do you happen to have any other weapons with you today? I can assure you I can pay if you happen to have something that interests me." The women says with a very warm smile. Her face didn't hide anything deeper, and so it was clear to see that her kindness was sincere. Rowan pursed his lips deciding whether to show the woman his latest project. He observed her. The brown haired woman's movements were graceful and it seemed like she had calluses on her hands, probably from holding weapons. The elf also noticed a significant level of magic power seeping from her body. "I have something in progress." His voice was rough and harsh like brimstone but held a comforting baratone deep in his throat. He pulled out the double bladed staff. The weapon wasn't particularly ornate nor was it sharpened. Simply a polished wooden staff with large two foot long blunt ends, ready to be shaped into blades. His forest eyes met her ocean ones and he tried to search for any hint of interest from her. Her eyes sparkle at the sight of this undeveloped weapon. She could see that this would be a great asset to her arsenal, should she be able to obtain it. "I'm assuming that this will be a double-bladed staff? Will it be full tang, or have an interlocking mechanism to allow for twin blades?" She asks with a sense of serious interest. A shrug was his only answer. After a moment under the woman's intense stare Rowan started speaking. "I usually make custom weapons, or full sets. This is just prototype. I am not sure of the full design." There was a flash of light and a small red colored dagger appeared. He scrutinized it and swore lightly when he saw how dull the blade was. He held out two fingers which started to glow with a pale blueish aura. He started to sharpen the blade with his fingers. It was a calming mechanism for the man, sharpening blades. The women eyed the dagger with a curious raise of her eyebrow. "May I ask what material that dagger is made of? It has the same design and feel of an axe that one of my guild members has...But her axe was made by a famous blacksmith who I doubt I would see around the markets of Onibus..." "It's part of a set of three. The Flame Demon Dagger. I have a buyer down near Hargeon." He gulped. Was this a member of Nova's guild? As much as he loved her like his own child, she was a whirlwind, often overwhelming him. "The Flame Demon Series! That's it!" The women says as her ponytail swishes from her bounce in excitement. "You must be Rowan then! My name is Samarra Inari, master of the Koma Inu guild. I believe you made an axe for one of my member awhile ago. She has raved about your craftsmanship, so it is quite an honor to meet you." Samarra says as she extends her hand as a friendly gesture. "Yes.. You're one of Nova's comrades?" Rowan reluctantly shook her hand then went back to sharpening his blade. "Yes, you could say that." Samarra laughs out. "Well I apologize if this is forward of me, but I am curious to see if the creator is as good as his creations? I have seen Nova's axe in action, so I am wondering if the maker of said weapon knows how to expertly wield them as well. Care for a spar? I can compensate you for the time you will lose in this market. Or I will happily wait until you are done here." Rowan's eyebrow raised. "Oh is that so?" He was excited to get out of the marketplace. He hadn't sparred in a while, so it was an exciting opportunity. "I accept. We can leave immediately." In a flash of light his wares and cloth were gone. "I hope you are prepared Miss Inari, Even your friend Nova has a hard time sparring against me. Ah, is my son still a member of your guild, I trust he is adjusting to his new... ability?" "Ah yes, Nolan seems to be adjusting quite well. I see him becoming a fine mage in Koma Inu!" She smiled at the inquisitive father. "Well I hope I am prepared as well; it has been a little while since I've seriously sparred with someone. But I'll give it my best shot." Samarra says sheepishly as she rubs the back of her head. Rowan stood, his bones arched after sitting for so long, he was anxious for some exercise. "Where would you like to go. I suppose it wouldn't be good to start a brawl in the marketplace." "There is a rather large clearing on the eastern side of the city. It is a valley enclosed by the rock walls of the mountains. A few trees here and there, but otherwise it is a pretty decent space...What do you say?" Samarra says, somewhat surprised by the mans great size...he clearly had a good foot of height on her. "We can leave now." A smile slid it's way onto the tattooed man's face. He hadn't gotten a chance to test out his newest creation. The two stood in the field facing each other. Rowan wore a dark cloak covering most of his body, dark pants a pair of leather boots. "I will let you have the first strike. It is only polite." "I would say the same to you, but then I fear we would be standing here all day." Samarra says with a giggle. Her expression changes to one of a serious nature as she readies herself for battle. Taking note of her position at the northern position of the field, she ensures that her surroundings are free from any life that may be harmed as a casualty of this battle. Seeing that the area is clear, she leans down and presses her left hand to the earth. A small emblem appears in black, appearing to be a circle with a kanji at the center. Then with her right hand, she thrusts it forward to release a stream of fifteen or so beams of lightning that flare out and begin to converge towards Rowan. "Raiton Dance!" She then unsheathes her Taranis Katana from her back and readies herself for her opponents counter. Rowan held out his arm and the lightning was drawn into his palm and absorbed with a crackle. He etched a symbol in the air and shot Samarra's exactly lightning back at her. Another flash of light appeared blade made of ice appeared in his hands. "Ice-Make: Ice Bringer." He ran forward, wind blowing behind him. "Prepare yourself Ms Inari." Samarra quickly slashes her katana at the lightning bolts, and the energy is immediately drawn into her sword. "I am impressed that you managed to absorb all of the rays I sent your way. But you should know that my own lightning cannot hurt me. Using my own magical energy against me will not yield any damaging results, but will drain my reserves. So I applaud you on that." With a swift movement of her sword, she takes a defense stance and begins running an electrical current through her blade, sending sparks of lightning off in different directions. He dropped the blade and clasped his hands together. "Ice-Make: Wall." The bolts shattered the wall of ice separating the two warriors but missed Rowan's body. His fingers became to glow and he etched two magical symbols in the air. The Water Rune materialized on the ground creating a pool of water under Samarra, while the other was the lightning rune. He shot a bolt into the pool, hoping to electrocute the woman. Clever man, I see. Should be a fun fight...'' Samarra smiles and thinks to herself. Slamming her sword into the ground, the katana acts as rod and absorbs some of the lightning into it's blade due to it's special properties. Samarra manages to get hit by a few stray currents as her muscles contract throughout her body. When her Taranis Katana has absorbed most of the lightning, Samarra is able to feel her muscles start to relax and she immediately creates a magic circle to bring forth one of her beasts. "Beast Summoning: Kyna!" She shouts as a white fox with flames jumping from its body appears from the magic circle. Samarra then unearths her blade and charges from the eastern side of the wall, while her fox takes the western route with teeth barred. With her sword in one hand, Samarra brings up her other hand and points her index and middle finger towards Rowan. "Tenjin Slicer!" Then a quick beam of lightning extends from her fingertips as she runs towards Rowan. ''If he tries to absorb it like the last time, it will leave him open, allowing me to easily get a slash in. And if he decides to block my blade, the saber of lightning ought to hit him... If not I will have Kyna as back up. There's no way I am letting him get two hits in a row on me! '' Rowan burst into the air, his wind magic taking control. Her lightning bolts grazed his legs although he missed the her blade. "Ice-Make: Gun. Wind-Make: Tornado Bullets!" He shot spirals of wind down at her as he glided through the air. ''She's better than I thought. Nova is lucky to have a friend like you Samarra. He smiles, for once he is enjoying himself in a battle. Without missing a beat, Samarra signaled to Kyna, crouching down to allow Kyna to springboard off of Samarra's hands into the air. The fox shouted, "Phoenix Petal Shower!" and spit forth hundreds of small fireballs towards the airborne Rowan. Samarra followed suit with her own barrage of Raiton Bullets, aimed to clash with the Tornado Bullets, hopefully allowing them to slow down enough to only supply more oxygen to the flames, rather than blow them out. Rowan swore and etched furiously creating a shield between himself and the attacks, unfortunately he was focusing too hard on his shield and forgot to keep himself up in the air, He tumbled down to the earth, not before kicking off his shoes and sending a blast of wind from his feet to cushion his fall. He rose and took off his cloak revealing the many runes etched upon his body. "You do know I am the creator of Rune Magic." He hunched over and coughed. "You're a great opponent, but I cannot lose this easily." He had no time for an advance as Kyna continued charging him, so the elf just prepared himself for impact. "That is a very grand achievement, I am glad to see that you do not forget your own greatness. I just hope that you do not walk the line between confidence and arrogance; for that is a dangerous line to tread." Samarra says as sheaths her katana, and summons forth a kusarigama and begins spinning the weighted end. "Alright Kyna, why don't we show him some love?" Samarra shouts out to the charging fox. Kyna nods and begins to cloak herself in a orangish-red flame. "Koishi's Love!" the fox calls out as she sets her buring sights on Rowan, aiming to charge him with her red hot flames. Samarra sends forth the weighted chain, aimed at Rowan's leg to keep him in place, and hoping to disrupt his balance after Kyna strikes. Rowan seemed to appear in two places at once, leaving an ice-clone where he previously stood. The chains wrapped around the model of him and Kyna attacked his clone, breaking it into pieces. "Ice-Make: Eagle!" Rowan said from many meters away. Several eagles with a 5 meter wingspan rushed at Samarra, while a blade materialized in his hand. It seemed to be made of water, although it was clearly solid. The elf rushed towards Kyna attempting to send the guild master's summon away. "Static Discharge!" Samarra shouts as she explodes with pent up lightning energy that she has accumulated using her katana. The sky comes alive as the eagles crash through the lightning storm. Using the sickle end of the kusarigama, Samarra slices the few eagles that managed to get close and looks to see Rowan charging her fox. "Kyna watch out!" She shouts as she draws the weighted end of the chain close and throws the sickle towards Rowan's body. If matching his current speed, the sickle should be able to graze him by the time it reaches its maximum length of the chain. "Kyna, give it one last go and then let's join together, okay?!" The fox nods, knowing what her master intends to do. Kyna opens her mouth to face the charging man, halting her position so she does not run into the flying sickle. Creating a giant fireball in front of her mouth, the flames grow to where they are almost twice her size. "Inferno's Rage!" She shouts as the fireball is shot towards the elf and his water sword. This spell is a recycling spell of all the magical energy in the area. Luckily for Kyna, both mages have fired off a decent amount of attacks, making the flames rather powerful. This spells gets it's name from both the high heat and piercing sound given off by the rotation of the flames; people have thought that it sounds like the souls crying out from the flames of hell. Kyna hopes to do her master proud before Samarra casts her Beast Embodiment spell. Rowan cut the inferno in half, but swore as the heat singed his body. The elf turned to see the sickle come towards him, He froze it, the added wieght sending the chain tumbling towards the ground. His gaze landed on the light and he saw as Samarra's lightning dissolved his eagles. "Ice-Make: Stallion." A horse made of ice rose from the ground and charged Samarra. Dismissing her summon of the kusarigama, Samarra stands and creates a magic circle around her. Kyna begins to dissolve into a red glowing light orb that quickly makes its way to the magic circle. With a flash of white light, the magic orb seems to merge with Samarra and from the light she emerges to quickly slash the Stallion with a flame covered sword. Her appearance had change to one of long white ears for enhanced hearing as well as long white hair and red tattoos. The sword in her hand is a unique sword known as Okami Sun to channel fire magic through. Rowan prepared for her attack, etching a shield around his body. He summoned two large duel water blades and prepared for the woman's attack. Seeing that she was still on the eastern side of Rowan, Samarra places her free palm on the ground and places one of her summon seals. Letting the mark rest, she stands and begins to cloak the Okami Sun Blade in flames. She brings her other hand up to the blade and sends an electric current through the blade to create a dancing mixture of lighting and flames around the metal. With her High Speed Magic she takes off towards Rowan. Using a zig zag like pattern, her speed creates several afterimages as she decides to approach Rowan from the southern side of the valley. Aiming for an upwards slash from Rowan's left hip to right shoulder, Samarra shouts out, "Flash Strike!" as the lightning flame blade aches for contact. Rowan's pupils dilated as he triggered his Eagle Eye Magic, immediately sensing Samarra's approach, one of his left blade moved to block her strike, then he stepped back letting the blade crash to the ground. He swung with his right blade and followed up with an overhead strike of his left. As fast as lightning strikes, Samarra unleashed her magic as soon as her blade touched the water one. Her Luminous Cloak erupted around her, shielding her in a thick cloud of pulsing lightning. Having a rapidly spinning magical energy, she believes it will be enough to shield her from the incoming right blade and send a current through the conductive water of the weapon. Unearthing her blade from it's previous deflection, she spins her body to bring the sword to lie parallel with the ground to block the overhead strike. Having both hands on the handle, and keeping them there, she aims to do a forward elbow jab to Rowan's body as soon as his second blade makes contact with her Okami Sun. Rowan's Rune Shield blocked her jab and the Hybrid broke away from the woman, stepping a few feet back. "I will admit this is a challenge. I have not fought someone so skilled in a long time, but I will not fail." A white light surrounded his body, "Requip: Azure Emperor's Axe, Thunder Angel's Shield." A ice covered axe appeared in his left hand. It's blade was over a meter long and the elf held it easily. Mist seeped off it as if it was anxious to be used. In his right hand he held a large white shield with golden piping upon it. The shield had hardened, sharp edges as if used for cutting. This shield was capable of absorbing and redirecting all electric forces. The man rushed forward towards Samarra swinging his axe towards her thigh. He pressed his shield to his chest planned to ram into her body, using the shield to boost his physical strength. Using her Okami Sun blade, she brings it down to block the axe. She creates a fireball from the blades sun crest and fires it at the axe while the two weapons are in contact. She was too focused on the axe that she didn't have time to react to the shield and is sent flying back a dozen feet from the brute strength. Her Luminous Cloak seemed to have dimmed, as part of it was absorbed by the shield itself. Rather than reinforce it, she dismisses the lightning as well as her Kyna Embodiment. A red orb can be seen floating out and disintegrating into the air as Samarra's appearance returns to normal. She quickly kneels down to place another black summoning seal on the ground, and then uses her high speed magic to put a bit more distance between her and Rowan. With a few moments to spare, Samarra creates a magic circle to unleash a four-tailed sabertooth tiger. Gracefully hoping out of the magic circle, the beast looks up at his master. "Hey Kuuma, I know you are aching for battle, but mind if you lend me your help so I can try it on my own?" Samarra says to her companion. "Of course my lady, as you wish. Give him a good slashing, will ya?" Kumma grins out as he transforms into a golden colored orb that fuses with Samarra. "Embodiment: Kuuma!" Samarra shouts out as her appearance transforms into a cloaked warrior with partial armor and dual swords. Taking a deep breath Samarra charges back forth towards Rowan. Holding her fist into the air, small sand bullets begin forming in front of her knuckles as she runs. With a thrust of her fist, the sand bullets are shot forward at amazing speed. The sheer power of their firing is able to rip through steel armor up to an inch thick. Samarra then readies her blades in an X formation use one to block his axe attack and the other to follow up with a strike to his body. Rowan's eyes flashed starting to glow temporarily. They flashed an icy blue color, but then he suppressed his Lycan abilities. "Ice-Make: Stampede." Several ice horses came to life and he climbed upon one of them, replacing his axe with the Flame Demon Sword. He and stampede of horses stormed towards Samarra, prepared to strike. The previous bullets she fired off takes down three of the dozen ice horses coming her way. Another punch of bullets takes down one more, leaving eight to slice down. Samarra smirks beneath the cloth covering her face as she quickly slams her dual swords into the ground. "Kanagawa Wave!" She shouts as the ground in front of her in a 25 ft spread quickly wells up with sand and turns into a giant wave to come crashing down on the herd. The created pit in front of Samarra fills with sand as well, creating a quicksand trap for any who dare touch it. This was one of Kuuma's most devastating attacks, so Samarra was thankful to the sabertooth for lending her his magic. Rowan formed from the shards of ice, a cut bleeding from his forehead. "I was one of the horses. You're a smart woman." He etched a the Light Rune and sent a burst of light magic at Samarra. He continued following his beam of light, using it to hide his own body within the beam. The elf used the wind runes on his feet to leap over the sandpit. He switched weapons and grabbed the Flame Demon Claymore. "Demonic Pressure." He slashed, triggering a wave of destructive demonic flames coursing through his light beam for a combo attack. Samarra quickly slashed her swords upward, conducting the sand to become a structure between them. Constructing the sand into a unique prism, Samarra put two fingers forward and sent a bolt of lightning at the prism. The sand instantly turned into glass, putting the prism in the path of the light, hoping to redirect away from Samarra's body. She then put a wall of sand behind the prism, to act as a shield against the flames, knowing that if the flames were to hit the sand, the silicon dioxide would begin to melt and buy her a little more time. Knowing that this may not be completely effective, Samarra began running towards the western side of valley as she fires off streams of sand-cicles, hitting them with lightning to turn them to glass. There is no way Rowan has a Glass Rune, these glass icicles will be sure to buy me some time so I can get in the final position. Samarra thinks as she smiles to herself. His blade turned hot and he swung wildly blocking the glass icicles. The blood pouring from his head clouded his vision and he raised a hand to wipe it away. He couldn't hold it back much longer, although he could control his bloodlust the stress he was putting upon his body was pressuring him to trigger. "Wind-Make: Blade Surge." Rotating like balls of razorblades, several destructive balls of air were sent at Samarra. Shes planning something. I've seen that smirk on Lyn and Nova... What is she up to. He thinks. Either way I need to redo my shield. He etched his shield again, this time pouring more energy into it to project from more attacks. Then, it came to him. All of her movements, the magic seal. She was casting a seal upon him. Rowan decided to give it his all, and triggered his Lycanthropic Enhancement. His eyes began to glow and he grew claws and canines. He burst forward towards her using a burst of wind to speed up his movement. He clutched the sword in both hands ready to deliver a final strike, point blank at Samarra "Scarlet Severe-Strike!" Samarra, only a mere thirty feet away before Rowan takes off with blades blazing, quickly extends her arms as a magic circle appears at the halfway point between them. "Himorogi Delineation!" She shouts as a turquoise barrier appears with thickened walls, much more sturdy than a quickly cast protection barrier. She then swishes her twin blades to surround the back and sides of the barrier give her an extra line of defense, especially against the flames. She follows up by placing her hand on the ground and putting her fourth and final summoning seal on the ground. Perfect, now I have summoning seals in all four corners in the cardinal directions, north, east, south, and now west. Time to activate this nullification spell and take him out! Let's end this now! She thinks with a smirk, and quickly shouts, "Chain Prison!" The four summoning seals that have been placed throughout the match burst with multiple chains that stream towards Rowan, who had easily taken down the barrier and slices through the melting sand, but not before the chains were only two feet away from him. Now these chains had special properties that Samarra relies on to take down particularly strong opponents. They were made of a mixture metals known as Adamantine and Iridosmium, making them nearly impossible to break; as well as the infusion of Nullification Magic to subdue the effects of magic on whatever then touch. Her spell, Chain Prison, causes these chains to seek out and latch onto any mage's magic signature within it's borders. Rowan's Eagle Eye activated again and his body reacted instantly, he slashed the chains shattering them from their weakest link. His experience and history with such metals made it easy for him to find the weak points, which lie in the spot welds of the chains. "You've got to get a better blacksmith. There are some serious weaknesses in those chains." Rowan said. "I will say, that scared me, I didn't expect it." He walked over to her, his eyes returning to his normal appearance. "Let's call it a day, I will forge your weapon, but I also have another proposition to make..." Dismissing her embodiment, her appearance returns to normal as she smiles brightly at him. "You know if you weren't a renowned blacksmith, seeing that my chains weren't made by a master, then I think I might of had you there!" She laughs and rubs the sweat from her brow. "I will agree to the cease fire, and I appreciate that you will forge me a weapon! Think you might be able to mend these chains too?" She says as she gestures to the strands that have been cut in half. "Now what is this proposition?" "Yes, I can mend them, even create less weak links. Also...." He trailed off, and resumed his statement. "I would like to become the official blacksmith for your guild. Bring items to you, let you sell them in return for 25% of the profit. I don't need much money.. and it would give me an excuse to come down from the mountain more. You're a good person Samarra, although I generally dislike company, I could make an exception for you." Samarra blushes slightly at the compliment. "Why thank you Rowan. Your company is enjoyed as well. And I would love to have you be the official blacksmith for the guild! Of course we will still have to allow Nilda to continue to man the shop and forge her own weapons, but we would love to sell your weapons as well! And we can agree to the terms of money, I believe you should get paid for your hard work. But there is never a short in demand for weapons, so you are gladly welcome to come around as often as you'd like." He smiled kindly, then his face turned suddenly businesslike. "Alright, let's hear your order. I will make it any way you would like, the more enhancements, the longer it will take to create although I don't expect it would take more than a month."